I'm just finishing up our latest diorama kit & I need some help. It is set in Berlin at the end of the war & I need a vehicle & a couple figures so I can better illustrate the box cover shot when I photograph it.

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First, a bit on the dio concept. Like I said, it is set in Berlin near the end of the war. This is meant to be the ruins of a government building, complete with toppled columns & a crumpled Nazi banner that has fallen to the ground. The base is about 10" x 10". This is the master pattern. I need to put some finishing touches on it & then make a set of molds. There will be extra rubble included as well &, of course, the crappy banner shown here will be replaced with one of much better image quality.

So here's what I need. A German vehicle that would be appropriate for this location & time, and a few figures as well. Probably a tank would be best, but you tell me, I'm not the historian. Perhaps a damaged/abandoned vehicle would look good for this scene.

I would need you to send me vehicle/figures & I get to keep them. What you get in exchange is your models on the box cover of an Internationally released kit, one of the kits, plus any one other Dioramas Plus kit that you'd like. I'm not asking anyone to build a special model just for this. I know lots of you have a ton of stuff that you have built over the years that is just sitting around in boxes + I need this pretty fast (the next 2 weeks) so if you're interested start looking through your " I built it a while back but I wouldn't mind getting rid of it now " stash.

Don't start sending me models. If you're interested, send me a couple pics (via email) of what you have. No more than 3 pics because my dang satellite is super slow & will get bogged down if someone tries to send me 25 pictures. If you're interested best to send them sooner than later, otherwise I might have already worked out a deal with someone else.

Thanks for your time & expertise!

Randy Pepprock
Dioramas Plus
send pics to [email protected]

If it is to be a German vehicle then it should be a knocked out vehicle in keeping with the broken columns and the trampled flag. Sir, given your creation I immediately thought "ruins of a government building, last days of Berlin".

So better to go with a fit vehicle, say a Russian or US vehicle; myself, I vote for a T 26 Pershing!

Second suggestion would be the AFV Club Stuart in French service with a Frenchman passing a wine bottle to the tank crew and holding a French flag.

Third would be a German Pz IV, change the flag to Russian and call it Stalingrad.

These are just a few suggestions

Here's a couple of photos from the web which may inspire some ideas - a Tiger II and a Panther which fought it out to the bitter end in Berlin. As only the Soviets fought in Berlin (not the Americans), no M26 Pershings would have been involved in this battle. A JS II would be a more appropriate choice for an Allied vehicle.

The perfect choice would be a Russian vehicle (lend-lease Studebaker?) and ICM's May 1945 figures. Look at pictures of the Russian celebrations after the fall of Berlin.

a PAK 43 & a knocked out king tiger

OK, I've got some idea of what it should be, now who actually has something they want to part with & see on the box cover?

Randy

Hello Randy,

That looks like Italy or Greece to me, call me crazy, it just has that feel to it.

Anyways, you could show an elderly man/woman sitting on the corner stone having their photo taken by reporters from Time/Life or something along those lines.

See ya in the funnies.................

Here's the pic I was working off of. Everytime I tried to figure a way to incorporate more of the structure it just immediately got way way bigger than is feasible for a commercial kit. I figure the columns & the banner should do an OK job of setting the scene. Hope so anyway. : )

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Hello Randy,

Ok, I can see that. Still your diorama products can be used for other areas like Italy or Greece, this has that flare to it. I guess I was thinking "outside the box" when I first saw it.

As always, looks good.

See ya in the funnies................

OK, we are trying to talk about appropriate poses for using this dio base so in your mind pick up the battle scene and move it to Cologne and we can then see Bob Early's T26 Pershing take out the Panther in front of the cathedral with Jim Bates of the 165th Signal Photo Company filming the whole thing!

Good call Mike, that one slipped my mind. CRS strikes again!

See ya in the funnies.........

Hi Randy,

just my 2c worth....a truck with a full complement of russian soldiers cheerfully rolling through the ruins of Berlin sounds like a brilliant idea.....and a few battered civilians standing alongside watching in awe...!!

One thing I would suggest is: please get rid of that horrible flag in "low resolution". Look at that Swastika and its ragged edges!!! Brrrrr!!!
There are better ones on the market! Or just make your own....in the age of computer graphics, it's easy enough!!

Cheers

Romain

Randy indicated in his first post:




Personally, I agree that a Russian tank would fit better in this scene...with a couple of Russian troops on the tank and one or two "walkers."

Mike

I agree, with the above. The base seems the right size for a Russian light tank, with a few figures and perhaps one or two casualties(Russian and/or German). On that note, German Hitlerjugend would be appropriate.

His basic question remains unanswered though. Anyone have a model vehicle/figs to get put in the picture?
J

I have made a beute panther in russian colors. Maybe it can be used?



The photo is a little more blue than the real thing

Robin. Is this tank era & location correct for what I want to use it for? You can PM via my email if you like. Cheers!

Randy Pepprock
Dioramas Plus
[email protected]